Our invention relates to metal cladded wood products and more particularly to wood products, such as windows or doors, in which metal cladding is installed on the window parts before assembly of the same into a completed product.
Windows a doors have been extensively made of wood, primarily because it is easily milled and assembled and because it has an attractive appearance. However, such material is subject to weathering, particularly in external locations or on external surfaces. To protect agains such deterioration or weathering, attempts have been made to apply a thin metallic surface, in the form of a cladding surface, to the external surfaces of a product of this type. The U.S. Pat. No. 3,815,285 shows an arrangement of this type in which a metal cladding is applied to the exterior surface after assembly of the wood product. This arrangement has not proved completely satisfactory because of the costs of the parts and the labor of installation as well as the fact that the cladding is not permanently attached to the wood surface.
Other attempts have been made to apply a cladding material to a portion of a milled part of a window product prior to assembly. These have resulted in relatively structurally unsound window components because the cladding is fixed to the wood such as to allow no differential expansion between materials.